What a full day! In the afternoon we had a going away party for one of our employees down at the church. Lyosha has been faithfully serving the church as van driver, Bible teacher, and all around handy man. We had pizza, soda, tea, cake, and candy as co-employees took turns sharing good memories about their work with Lyosha. Then we presented him with a small toy model of the type of car he drove with our church name printed on the side. We closed with a time of praying for Lyosha and thanking the Lord for Him.

Later, some friends and I went to see the movie "Monsters, Inc." It was really well made and very entertaining, however the non-stop action and garish images set my head spinning! If you like silly cartoons, rollercoaster rides, and sensory overload I recommend this film. :)

After the movie we had a nice walk. We found some really neat sights including panoramic views of the Vladimir valley, some really cool red and black bugs, and a very creative graffiti display. The snow has almost all melted now and the sun was shining so it really was a beautiful day.

The rest of the day I spent over at the Fadnesses fellowshipping and wrestling with Caleb and some of his buddies. That got me tired and a pain in my back. But it sure was fun! Watch out guys, next time I'm gonna wup you!

Pastor Jeff and I took a trip today to the city of Murom to pay a visit to the Calvary Chapel there. Normally a two and a half hour drive from Vladimir, it took us a little longer as there were lots of fresh potholes to dodge along the way. It's a good thing CC Murom's pastor, Sasha, joined us for the trip there - he kept warning me of upcoming potholes. One must have sneaked by us because I hit it hard! Sasha said he saw my hub cap fly off from the impact so we turned around and went hunting for it. Jeff had the keen eye and spotted it lying upside down in the snow covered ditch next to the highway. It was in one piece so we snapped it back on and continued our trip.

We arrived in time to say hello to some of the office staff as they were preparing for tonight's communion service. It was so good to see so many familiar faces...Edic, Sergei, Christina, Tanya, pastor Sasha's wife, Katya....as well as meeting many new friends. The service began with an awesome time of worship. Their worship group cooks! Though the regular worship leader, Kolya, is in the states getting ready to record an album, his substitute did a wonderful job along with the rest of the band. After pastor Sasha taught a study from the gospel of John, he asked pastor Jeff to come up and lead the body in taking communion. Both pastors reminded us that it's out of a motive of love that we share the gospel with others. This love all begins at the cross of Jesus Christ. When I realize that Jesus layed His life down for me, it fills me to overflowing with love in return.

After the service I was impressed to see how many stayed around to to fellowship and pray with one another. You could sense a real joy and love among the believers and that they enjoyed being with one another. Soon it was time to go, but not before we had an opportunity to pray for Katya. She's been battling an illness for some time now and we felt lead to annoint her with oil and lay hands on her to ask for God's healing. Please keep her in your prayers, especially as Sasha and the guys from the band are travelling to the states next week to record the album with Kolya. They'll be gone two months and so Katya will need much strength to endure. We also got to pray for Edic, who is one of Sasha's right hand men and will be taking over the pastorate in Sasha's absence.

All in all in was a short but very potent time of ministry. They were glad to see us, we were glad to see them. It's amazing how quickly walls come down between believers when they pray together, study God's word together, and fellowship together through the Holy Spirit.

Tonight was communion down at the church. That meant I got to stay through both services since on communion nights we have more worship at both the beginning and ending of the services. The message tonight was great! It was called "The Mission of the Church" and explained that though the purpose of the church is to know Christ, the MISSION of the church is to preach the Gospel to all the nations. This was a much needed encouragement for me as in the last several months I had begun to feel like I was lacking purpose in my ministry here. I realized through the message tonight that it's not purpose I've been lacking, but rather I had lost sight of my MISSION. My prayer now is that God would rekindle in me a desire and passion to play my role in fulfilling our mission here in Vladimir.

We celebrate communion at our church on the last Wednesday of each month, which helps to keep it special and fresh. However, the devil also never fails to attack us on communion days as the last thing he wants the church doing is coming together to reflect on what Christ did for us on the cross. For me, these attacks usually take the form of misunderstandings with friends, getting offended by someone (or offending someone!), sin that distances me from the Lord, or any other number of strategies the devil thinks up. Tonight was no different. At worship rehersal everyone seemed to be in funk. One wanted the window open, another wanted it closed. One wanted the monitors to be louder, another thought it was fine. This song is being played too slow, no it's being played too fast...and so it went on until it seemed we were all at odds with one another. However, the Lord would not let us stay that way! Once we'd prayed and the service got underway, as usual, everything and everyone came together in a beautiful time of worshipping the Lord. Later, I apologized to our worship leader for my stinky attitude. Praise the Lord, he hadn't even noticed - though I know the Lord had. :)

In spite of the rough start, the rest of the evening was wonderful. I felt the Lord had answered my prayers that I would walk in the Spirit tonight and not the flesh. Also, that I would be thankful and full of joy as we reflected on the Lord's death. A brother shared with me not long ago, "You can't keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair." He was encouraging me that though we might not be able to keep bad thoughts from coming into our mind, we CAN keep them from taking up roots there! This has helped me immensely when I sense that happening to me. I just pray and the Lord helps me chase those thoughts out.

Tonight we had our monthly men's meeting down at the church. About 40 guys showed up. We began with a time of worship, spent some time fellowshipping and drinking tea, and then pastor Jeff shared from God's Word. The message was from Matthew chapter six and posed the question, "What is my driving passion in life?" We were exhorted to seeks God's kingdom before all else and to find our satisfaction in Jesus. We were encouraged to not store up our treasures here on earth, but rather, in heaven. When we strive to accumulate things, we show that we aren't really trusting the Lord to provide us with what we need. The message penetrated many hearts as evidenced during the prayer time after the teaching. Many of the brothers asked the Lord to help them set their eyes and hearts on the eternal, not the temporary.

During the fellowship break, some of the younger men took advantage of the nice weather and went outside in front of the church to skateboard and play hacky sack. If you're not familiar with hacky sack, this is a sport where the players stand in a circle and throw a little bean bag ball to one another using their feet or any other part of their body, except the hands. I'm not coordinated enough yet, but had fun watching and taking some photos. We pray that our young men would follow Christ closely, especially during these years when they are maturing. We pray too that our older men would take them under their wing and disciple them, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

This afternoon the Fadnesses and I went to the "Skin and Vein" clinic. Sounds creepy, eh? Well, this is the clinic that tests your blood and skin for any diseases. We all were required to go through testing in order to receive a certificate that allows us to swim at the public pool. First the skin doctor checked our feet and stomachs for any skin disorders. Then we were sent off to the blood lab where they jab your finger with a razor and squeeze the tip to siphen the blood into a test tube. Oh the joys of the medical world. :)

Pasha and another brother from the church, Vova, came over in the afternoon for another computer lesson. Today, I walked them through the process of opening an e-mail account. Both jazz musicians, they enjoyed listening to my new Babbie Mason CD. She rocks! (In a jazz kind of way)

I wanted to tell you about yesterday! Pastor Jeff and I made a trip to the city of Lakinsk where CC Sobinka was doing an outreach. The entire Sobinka church took part in staging a production of the american theatrical production entitled "Heaven's Gate and Hell's Fire." They've worked long and hard on building their own sets, making their own costumes, etc. and it's certainly paid off. Last night they played to a full house for the second night in a row. The theatre seats approximately 300 and the majority of attendees were first timers. The whole play is centered around the gate of heaven and what happens when believers and non-believers show up after their sudden deaths. Of course, those who received Jesus as their Lord and Savior are ushered into heaven. Those who put off making that decision or rejected Christ altogether are ushered (literally dragged!) into hell by the demons. The message was clear, the choice laid out. We pray that many would choose life.

Today I had the priviledge of accompanying our church's drama team on an outreach trip to the city of Alexandrov, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Vladimir. My first impression was of how mature this group of mostly high schoolers conducted themselves. Somehow I had imagined that I would have to endure hours of loud and crazy behavior. Boy was I wrong! When we arrived to Alexandrov, we were greeted by the pastor of Calvary Chapel Alexandrov, Misha Sovetov, who was hosting the event. The kids on the team immediately all pitched in to move tables and chairs to prepare the hall for the presentation. While they spent the next hour or so running through the dramas, I had an opportunity to catch up a bit with our long term missionary team - Misha, Masha, their son, Lotia Sovetov, Sasha and Anya Chertova, and Ksusha Kuznitsova.

Finally, it was time for the outreach to begin. The first half of the program were several skits on topics ranging from the gospel message to living mature in Christ. During the break between acts, the the Alexandrov church served tea and cookies to all those in attendance while the drama team retreated to the "dressing room" to paint on their mime masks for part two. The team splendidly executed the dramas and also clearly explained the meaning of each drama inbetween. The finale drama was called "Unity" and depicted the spiritual battle we endure as christians and Satan's attempts to douse our flames. They darkened the room and used lighted candles to create a beautiful picture of the church as the light of the world and how our unity enables us to pick eachother up and "relight" our flames when the enemy attacks. This drama held extra meaning to me as I know the personal lives of some of the team members and some of the struggles they've gone through in their walk with Christ. The fact that they were there tonight and involved in reaching out to others with the message of God's love toward men was a testimony that God has sustained their faith, often through the encouragement and support of their friends.

I believe the Alexandrov church and our long term missionary team were strengthened as they soaked in the message of each drama. Even more encouraging was that 15 to 20 high school and college kids would spend hours and days praying, rehearsing dramas, and then travel to their city to reach out to them and their community with the love of Jesus. In the end, we all said goodbye and loaded the bus. Just as the door to the bus was shutting I was able to snap one more photo of those we were leaving behind. I'll never forget the faces filled with joy, thankfulness, and hope of great things to come.

Today Jeff, Christina, Pam, and I went out for some lunch and fellowship. We went to a cafe called "The Flamingo", which is your basic continental cuisine type of place. It was nice to actually sit and take our time ordering and fellowshipping between courses. I hadn't done that in a long time. I had a fresh salad, beet vegetable soup, baked chicken, rice, bread, tea, and apple juice. It was fantastic! They also had these really neat aquariums that hung on the wall like a picture in a frame. After lunch we took a walk to a local mall to work off the meal and then headed over to another small cafe for some dessert. It was a nice leisurely afternoon and the Lord reminded me how important it is to slow down once in a while and do something relaxing and fun.

In the evening, I headed back over to the Fadnesses where we fellowshipped some more as well as took care of some church business and planning for our upcoming trip to Riga, Latvia. Our american missionary team is traveling there in April to renew our travel visas for the next year. Normally we do this in Tallinn, Estonia, but we found out that it's cheaper this year in Riga, so we decided to venture somewhere new. I'm excited as we've never been to Latvia but heard great things about it. Riga is the capital of Latvia. Latvia is one of the three Baltic (on the Baltic sea) countries that border Russia to the west. The other two are Estonia and Lithuania. I'm sure I'll share more details with you about the trip as it draws closer. So far, we found a very reasonable bread and breakfast type place that has room for all 13 of us that includes both breakfast and dinner in the price. It's also located in the city center and only 12 minutes walking from the russian embassy which is an added bonus. The russian embassy is where we need to go to apply and receive our new visas. If you think of it, please pray for details and planning of this trip and that we would successfully receive our visas.

One last thing. I decided to take the weekends off from updating my site. I just feel like I need a break in the week from the computer. I knew you'd understand. But I'll still be taking photos throughout the weekend and give you an update of the weekends on Mondays, so be sure to keep tuned in. God bless, and have a great weekend! Love, Ron

Today we were able to return to the boy's prison. After the amnesty release they went from over 300 boys down to about 120. As a result of the smaller numbers, the prison officials allowed us to minister to the boys directly in their dormitory where they live. It was such a better atmosphere. I think they felt more at ease on their own turf. We sang some songs, shared testimonies and God's Word, and then broke into small groups for more one on one fellowship. My group had four guys - Dima,Dima,Vova, and Andre. I felt lead to take them down the Romans road, which are some verses from the book of Romans that explain the gospel message. They were very attentive. At the close of our time I invited them to pray with me if they desired to receive Christ. I can't be sure, but I thought I heard at least one of the boys whispering the prayer under his breath. I hope the Lord allows me to meet with these guys again. Please pray that they would follow Jesus. One of the Dima's, who seems to be the "leader", happens to be the guy on the far right of the picture of the three prison boys on my homepage. Please pray especially for him as it seemed to all of us that the battle is stronger for his soul.

Oh, by the way, this morning I woke up so early worrying about those keys! As it turned out, they had an extra set, so I didn't need to go down there. But, I was glad the situation helped me rise. :)

As it turned out the police simply wanted the kids to come down to re-confirm the accounts they had given them the first time. It was fun waiting with the kids in the station while they took their turns with the sergeant.

After the evening Bible study my "Iron Sharpening Iron" men's group met in the church basement. Pete wasn't feeling well, which opened a discussion about health and exercise and our outlook on these topics as christian men. We all desire to glorify God with our physical bodies by being good stewards of them. I so appreciate the time with these men and believe that God is using our meetings to build us up in the faith.

Oh brother, I accidently took home the church basement keys tonight! I'll have to take them there early in the morning or the guys won't be able to get in to change into their work clothes. Well, that's one way to get up early in the morning!:)

After the church planning meeting this morning we walked the church grounds and did some measuring to begin plans for building a hall for our church services. Prayerfully, in addition to the empty lot we own next to our existing building, we'll also be able to purchase the lot to the rear of our property. It was exciting to actually get out and actually start sizing things up and discussing ideas. Volodya, our church administrator, will draw up some plans which we will send to the builders along with some pics I took with the digital. We don't have any money yet to build, but we're taking a step of faith and beginning the process. If it's the Lord's timing, we trust He will provide.

In the afternoon we had our american missionary meeting, which is held every other Tuesday. It was our first meeting together since Jeff and Christina returned. We had some great fellowship and then listened to a teaching on cassette by Chuck Smith. The title was "The God of All Comfort". It was directed especially toward missionaries and encouraged us to accept the trials God allows in our lives. When we have passed through the trials, we are able to comfort those who go through similar trials. This is the way the church is built up in faith, grace, love, and peace. It was very practical for me as I've been going through my own trial recently. Hearing the teaching helped me to understand that God is using this in my life for good.

In the evening I attended the monthly worship fellowship meeting. On these evenings all those who take part in leading worship for any of the church ministries, or those who desire to in the future, gather together at the church for a time of worship, a Bible study, sharing new songs, and fellowship. Tonight, I shared a new song I wrote this past week. It's called "I Run To You" and pretty much came out of the cry of my heart for God to give me perspective in the midst of trials. Here are the words:

like a raging wave in a winter storm
my heart's tossin to and fro - again
would you calm my heart like you calmed the sea?
my faith's weak but you are strong, Jesus

Chorus:
Lord, I run to You
You are mighty in power
As your works have proclaimed
Therefore, I will boast in my weakness
For You are my strength, Jesus
Oh, I run to You

On another note, the police called Caleb today and want him to come down to the station tomorrow in connection with the time when he was attacked. They wouldn't say what about concretely. So, I'm gonna meet he and his family at the station in the morning. Should be interesting! I'll update you tomorrow. God bless!

Hope you had a great weekend! I needed to take a break from the computer.

Saturday was the helps ministry. I tried to share the gospel with two men after the meeting, but they were not open to hearing. I was frustrated, but then I remembered that you can't force anyone to turn to God, it has to be their own free will decision and God's Spirit working on their heart.

Sunday, pastor Jeff shared about God's faithfulness to he and Christina during their stay in the states. God provided for them in so many ways and it was great to see Christina at church again. Please continue to pray she would have a full recovery. The therapy here so far is going well. Soon they will begin swimming at a local pool, which should help too. Sunday evening was the prayer meeting. It went well, but not without spiritual warfare. The devil always tries to stop us from turning to the Lord in prayer. You'd think I'd recognize his tactics by now, but sometimes I still fall for his tricks.

Today Jeff and Christina had me over to their place for dinner and some fellowship. It was so good to sit and talk with them again. Later, the kids came home from the youth group Bible study and we had a short time of worship and prayer before saying goodnight. Thank you, Lord, for this family and the encouragement I receive through them.

Today was a catch up on chores around the flat day. Not the most exciting of things to do, but nonetheless, it must be done. My jeans had half the dirt of Vladimir on the leg cuffs! But first, some time with the Lord.

Today I continued in the gospel of Mark, chapter 14. Jesus has been falsely tried by the religious leaders and sentenced to death for claiming to be the Christ. Meanwhile, Peter, following Jesus from afar, denies His Lord three times in fear of being associated with Him. It was a lesson for me to stand up for my faith in Jesus and not falter when people mock me for following Him. I also saw Jesus here as an example of not shrinking back from suffering for doing what is right. Sometimes I'm so careful to not make others feel uncomfortable that I pass by opportunities to tell them about the Lord. I want to tell people of Christ when the Spirit prompts me, not when it's convenient.

Later in the afternoon I did some grocery shopping. The weather has dipped down to below zero again, which is great cuz it's not all sloshy on the sidewalks - instead, it's icy and slippery. (the better of the two in my opinion) When I got home, my mail box was stuffed again with election materials. City mayor elections (which are every four years) are this Sunday, the 17th. Please pray that God's man would be elected.

We had good news today. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow approved our applications for new invitations to obtain our one year travel visas. That means it's a green light for us to travel to Riga, Latvia in April to get the new visas. Praise the Lord! Thanks to those who prayed.

The trip to Moscow was a success! Thank you for your prayers. It was a joyful reunion at the airport with Jeff and Christina. It was so neat to see them together again with the kids. You could tell how much they had missed one another.

As it turned out, Jeff and Christina ended up in a section on the return flight where she was able to lay down, which was an answered prayer. It's obvious she is doing so much better after her back treatments in the states. Now we are praying for a full recovery as she continues her treatments here.

We rolled into Vladimir about 9pm and sat around fellowshiping at their apartment until it was time to head home. I was so thankful that they were able to bring the boots I'd bought over a year ago when I was in the states. I hadn't had room in my suitcase then. Boy, and just in time as my current boots are full of holes and it's all wet and slushy out on the streets. Thank you, Lord!

Oh, by the way, I'm doing much better today. I woke up this morning and sensed right away that it was going to be a good day. Thank you for your prayers. I think I allowed myself to get overwhelmed with all that'd been going on during the last week, but today the Lord gave me a fresh perspective on things.

Ever have one of those mornings when you have every intention to sit down and spend time with the Lord and then realize the day is half over and you never did it? That was me today. I know the Lord understands and His love doesn't change toward me, nonetheless, I don't like when "urgent" things crowd out needful things. I need to be with Jesus!

So what was so urgent? Well, it seemed urgent at the time (doesn't it always?) but in hindsight I realized much of it could have waited till after devotions. One thing that had to be taken care of right away was arranging the transportation to pick up Jeff and Christina tomorrow. Lotia, our driver, made a nice little "bed" for her out of four of the seats. I wrote and told Jeff and Christina that it will be like a magic carpet ride back to Vladimir! Well, we'll see...:)

By the time we were done arranging all the details for tomorrow and I had answered several e-mails it was time for lunch. It was only after lunch that I finally was able to sit on my sofa in the guest room, soak up the little bit of sunshine left streaming through the window, and spend some time reading the word and in prayer. Still, it was TOO short and already time to shower and leave for worship practice. I can't even recall what I read, which tells you something about the quality of that devotion.:)

Can I dump a little more? I have a terrible habit of being late everywhere. Only a few minutes, but it's frustrating and I know I have a reputation for never being on time. I really want to change. Please pray for me if you think of it. Today was no different and I walked in late to rehersal.

I don't know why, but lately I haven't been enjoying the worship group as much as usual. I think I'm just going through a dry period. Rehersal was boring to me and I felt fidgety. After singing at the first service, I asked Valera if I could skip singing at the second. He understood. Looking back, I suppose I should have bit the bullet and done it, but I was just too much in a funk. Perhaps it's a spiritual attack. Or maybe I'm just nervous about the Fads coming home tomorrow. Well, in any case, I will try to entrust all this to Jesus and keep my mind on Him.

The Bible study tonight was just what I needed to hear. The topic was "Our relationship with God". Pasha, my Syktyvkar buddy, did the teaching. It really encouraged me to keep "spending time with Jesus" the main priority of my life. This is God's goal in everything He does and should be our goal in everything we do - To be close to Him and share friendship with Him.

Another bright spot of the day was a package I received from my e-mail penpal, Yoli Blando. She sent me a CD and a cassette. The CD has that song I love so much called "Trust His Heart". However, even this bright spot was dimmed a bit when I accidently dropped the CD box and cracked the cover off. When it rains, it pours! P.S. Thank you, Yoli, for the gift!

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26

After our morning meetings it was my turn to meet with our pastors from our church plants in the region. Normally, pastor Jeff meets with these brothers every other Tuesday to encourage them and provide any counsel or direction they may need in the ministry. Today we were in the gospel of Mark, chapter 13, where Jesus is exhorting His disciples to be alert and watching for His second return. I was encouraged to not just mentally agree with the fact of His soon return, but to allow this truth to sink down into my heart. Only then will it effect how I live and the decisions I make day to day. Just think, very soon Jesus will come and we will see Him face to face! Does this excite us? If not, perhaps we have been allowing the things of this world, or even the ministry, to steal away our affections from the Lord. After our study, we shared prayer requests and then prayed for one another.

One prayer request that our american missionary team has is for our travel visas for the upcoming year. Every April we must travel out of the country to obtain them from a russian embassy outside Russia's borders. But first, we must apply and receive a letter of invitation from the ministry of foreign affairs in Moscow. We'll do that this Thursday. It's a standard procedure, but please pray that everything would go smoothly as they seem to be scrutinizing the applications more closely than before.

Later in the evening I visited with Pam and the Fadness kids over at their flat. We found out today that Jeff and Christina will be returning on Thursday. Good news! Christina has been doing better and better and they are ready to come home. In preparation for their return we ate pizza, salad, donuts and dirtied up the kitchen. hehe. Well, to balance things out, we did give snoopy a bath and a haircut. She looks beautiful! Then we sat down and watched the film "The Jungle Book", which kinda reminded me of Tarzan, Indiana Jones, and Doctor Doolittle all rolled into one. Fun stuff.

Today I pretty much took it easy on my day off. I had devotions, did some e-mail, and worked on some of the details for our church anniversary in May.

In the morning Dima came by for a visit. Pasha came in the afternoon for his computer lesson. Anton dropped by in the evening to make a phone call and fellowship a bit. Living alone, it's great when the brothers drop in as it breaks up the day and gives me some fellowship.

I ask you to pray for a decision I need to make in the near future. I can't share the details with you right now, but thank you for praying.

Tomorrow is "early Tuesday", so I'll say good night. Blessings! Ron

Today at church the message was "Why Did God Create Woman?", which was specially chosen in honor of Women's Day. Volodya, the teacher, shared from Genesis chapter 2. There we see that God created Eve to be a helpmate for Adam, so that he might be more effective, useful, and beautiful in the work God gave him to do. In turn, the man is to cherish his wife as Christ does the church and be willing to lay down his life for her. It was a very encouraging message and helped us to understand God's design for man and woman and the roles each play in accomplishing God's purposes.

After church my buddy, Valera, came over for some fellowship and lunch. We hadn't gotten together in a long time so it was good to catch up. We had fun talking about today's message and sharing our opinions on the subject.

In the evening, he and I headed over to the church for the prayer meeting. Tonight was very unique. Pasha, the leader, sensed that many in the room seemed depressed and burdened. So, he asked those who desired to take turns sitting in a chair in the middle of the room and share their burden with the rest. Then we laid hands on them and prayed for them. It was such a great encouragement and you could sense the burdens being lifted one by one. "Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you."

I went to the helps ministry this morning thinking the Lord would use me to minister to someone and instead He used three grandmas to minister to me. I had something heavy on my heart and mentioned it to them in passing after the meeting. One of them chirped, "Well, let's pray right now!" Another answered nervously, "Oh, I don't know how!" Undaunted, the first one grabbed me by the sleeve and exclaimed, "Me neither, but let's try!" Before anyone could protest further, she began to pour out such a sincere and heartfelt prayer that I was moved to tears. Sometimes the Lord sends comfort to us in the most unexpected ways. I thank Him for those three grannies!

After helps, I had an appointment to meet with Dima, who heads up our drama ministry. He and the drama team are getting ready to make a trip to two of our daughter churches in Kovrov and Alexandrov and he wanted to bounce their plans off me and see if I had any counsel/ideas for him. The main thing that stood out to me from our meeting was when we spoke about the value of taking a team to minister in another city. Dima voiced his concern that maybe these kind of trips don't really produce any fruit for God's kingdom. I assured him that in my nine years of ministering with short term teams the Lord has allowed me to witness firsthand how life changing team visits can be - both for those who minister and for those who are ministered to. God does something unique when believers leave their home city to minister to people in another place - whether it be a neighboring city or a far away country. Please pray for them as they head out on March 23rd and 24th.

Then it was on to Sergei and Nadia Sokolov's home for some fellowship and brainstorming with Sergei about the anniversary video we're planning to make for the church celebration in May. Sergei and Nadia are part of our church and also have been my dear friends for several years. They recently had their first baby, Philip, who is a wonderful little boy. He was just laughing and smiling during the whole visit. I think he knows how much he is loved. Sergei is the chief administrator for a christian humanitarian aide ministry here in Vladimir. Nadia is a stay home mom and also plays the violin at church as time permits. This was my first visit to their home since they wed so I was really excited to see the place. They live on the ninth floor of an apartment building on the edge of town. The elevator has been broken since July! That's one of their prayer requests. Can you imagine getting a baby buggy down nine flight of stairs?! And then up again! But they take it all in stride and are obviously thankful to have a place of their own. (many newleyweds are forced to live with parents) Plus, they have an awesome view of the forests and meadows that surround Vladimir. We had lunch, made some rough plans for the video, played with Philip, looked at their photo albums, and then sat down to dinner and a movie. The film was called "Les Miserables" and was a great illustration to me of how precious it is to forgive and show mercy to others. We wrapped up the evening with a time of prayer and then the whole family walked me to the bus stop to see me off. What a blessed day!

Happy Women's Day!! Today all over Russia (and other countries, I imagine) people were congratulating the women in their life with dinners, gifts, and flowers. Even as I woke up this morning I began to smell the aromas of beef, chicken, potatoes, and cabbage being prepared in kitchens throughout my apartment building. I could hardly get through my devotion I was getting so hungry!

Caleb and I hit the main supermarket downtown to buy all the needed ingredients for our dinner we had planned to prepare for his two sisters and Pam. We had a blast cooking everything and trying not to destroy the kitchen in the process. We were a little behind schedule, but everything turned out delicious. Thank you, Lord! Falling in line with tradition we also gifted the girls with flowers, cards, chocolates, ice cream, and cookies. I think they were blessed.

I did a little research on the net and found out that the first International Women's Day event was celebrated in 1911 as a platform through which they strove to obtain women's rights in politics and economics. One of it's main organizers was a russian woman name Alexandra Kollontai who commented on the event, "it was one seething trembling sea of women." Hmmm. For our church here in Russia in 2002, the holiday is an opportunity to thank God for the gift of women. All glory to Jesus!

Today I spent most of the day catching up on e-mails. The RSVP's have begun to trickle in for our May celebration and soon we'll begin the visa processing.

In the evening I went over to the flat where Baba Klava lived when she died. Her nephew was to meet me there so that I could get Baba Klava's wheelchair. It will be kept at the church for a future need. I tried to engage Kolya in conversation about spiritual things, and he did seem open somewhat, but then would change the subject. He said that he and his family are planning to come to one of our services soon. They did stop in at the Sunday service to drop off some chocolate bars for some of the girls. Baba Klava had bought them for them before her death for women's day and Kolya wanted to pass them on.

So, tomorrow is Women's Day. It's an official holiday from work and so the stores were jam packed today with everyone buying food products for the celebration. We're gonna do something special for a few of the sisters tomorrow too. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. Have a great day!

P.S. I apologize for the raunchy ads that sometimes appear on this site. I have chosen "family" as my ad category (you have to have ads in order to have a free site, but sometimes the ads don't look so "family" to me. Anyway, please just close them by double clicking at the bottom of the ad. Perhaps soon I will pay the monthly fee to have an ad-free site. Ron

I had a much needed quiet time with the Lord this morning. Here's a few lines from my journal: "Am I willing to give up everything for Jesus? I believe in my heart that I am, but fear my actions prove otherwise. I feed on so much that is earthly and temporal, even sinful. Does this not reveal where I am laying up my treasure? I fear that, like the rich man, I don't really believe that I can find all my satisfaction in Jesus and so I continue to cling on to the other stuff. I long to have my lifestyle match my beliefs."

I received so much encouragement from this time with the Lord that I dove into my e-mail box with a renewed vigor and knocked out 20 letters. That felt good. After a quick shower and shave I dashed off to church for our worship band practice. Have you ever thought you were in a good mood and then you come in contact with people and you realize you're irritable? Happens to me all the time. I'm so glad I have a God I can cry out to at times like this and ask for His deliverance from my feelings. As we practiced, I began to sense my heart melting and worship began to happen.

Sergei runs the sound board on Wednesdays. When I asked him to tell me what he thinks is the most important thing about doing the sound he replied, "I think the most important thing is to have a good ear, which I don't have, so then the most important thing is to trust in the Lord!" Good answer! He runs a 24 channel Mackey sound board which is intimidating just to look at. His job is to make sure that the sound is balanced so that every person in the hall can enter into a great time of worshipping the Lord.

After the service, the guys from my "Iron sharpening iron" group came over to my apartment for our bi-monthly meeting. We began with a time of worship and then spent most of the rest of the evening sharing with one another about what God is doing in our lives. We covered so many topics my head was spinning - I loved it! We spoke about marriage (always a popular topic with single guys), christian music vs. secular music, and the christian's relationship to secular culture to name a few. We were so excited and having such great fellowship that suddenly we realized it was already past 9:30 and we needed to wrap things up. The guy's prayers are so heartfelt and sincere...I felt so priviledged to be with these brothers tonight.

At the weekly church planning meeting this morning we talked about putting things back where you found them. When many people share a common home and possessions, if things are not returned to where they belong then the next one who comes along to use it won't be able to find it and they experience frustration and hindrance in effectively serving in their ministry. Pretty basic stuff, but a good reminder for keeping peace and order in God's house.

In the afternoon I went home and took a nap. I have felt atmospheric pressure pushing me down all day - well, that's what many russians say is why some days you feel out of it. Atmosphere or not, I know I need some time with the Lord. Later, I returned to the church as our administrator and I had made plans to try and talk to one of our neighbors today and see if they're willing to sell so that we can build a hall for the church. We'd already spoken to one neighbor and they are for it. The second neighbor today also seemed positive, but needed to talk it over with the family. Please pray that both neighbors would sell as we need both plots of land in order to build.

In the evening I popped over to the Fadnesses for some fellowship, ice cream, and the second half of "The Emperor's New Groove". The main guy in this Disney cartoon only thought of himself and what pleased him. In the end he learns that loving others is more important than pleasing yourself. I needed that lesson today.

I threw in some pics today of some of the sights of Vladimir. Hope you enjoy. :)

I accompanied Caleb and Anton to the "Court of Medical Appraisement" this morning. Here they had the boys recount the events of their attack for the medical court records and also measured and inspected their injuries. One doctor inspects and questions the victim while at the same time dictating her findings to another doctor who sits at an ancient manual typewriter frantically trying to keep up. I was so amazed how fast her fingers could fly using the two-fingered hunt and peck method! The doctors were very kind and patient with us and took their work very seriously. When I expressed my opposition that the boys, as victims, should have to pay a 25 ruble charge for this service, one of the doctors quickly shot back, "Don't you worry, when they catch the attackers they'll make 'em pay you back!" uh-huh, we'll see...

Pasha (my Syktyvkar buddy) came over in the afternoon for his computer lesson. Did I tell you I'm helping him to learn how to use the computer every Monday afternoon? It's a great chance for us to fellowship while at the same time helping him to learn a skill he feels he'll need in the future. If the Lord sends he and His wife on the mission field he'll need to keep us updated via e-mail!

The rest of the day I spent trying to catch up on all the e-mails that have stacked up in my inbox. If you're waiting for a letter from me, thank you for your patience. Also, as it's the first of a new month, this is the time when I write all my reports. I hoped to get them knocked out today, but it looks like I'll have to finish them tomorrow after the staff meetings down at the church.

I hope the Lord is drawing you close to Himself these days. In all our busyness it's so important that we take time to pray and feed on His Word. God bless!

We had a huge snow all last night. It was soooooooooo beautiful on the street today!

The message at this morning's service was about our reputation as christians. Before he became a believer Paul had a great reputation among those in his profession and the unbelieving world because he persecuted christians who were seen as a threat to society. After his conversion, these very same ones who had previously praised Paul became his worst enemies. They stoned him, beat him, and spoke against him. Why? All because he stood up for the truth and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is it that people find wrong in me? Is it something to do with my speech, dress, attitude, behavior, etc.? These are not worthy of persecution. Or, am I disliked for speaking the truth of the gospel? "For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God." (1 Peter 2:20)

After church I visited the Fadness'. With their parents out of town, I had it on my heart to have a time with the kids when we could talk about all the things that had happened this week. (Baba Klava's death, Caleb and the boys getting attacked) It turned out to be a great time of sharing our feelings and impressions of these events. We talked about how it's during these trials, when you feel there is nothing you can do to control or change a situation, that God wants to teach us to trust and depend on Him.

In the evening we all headed over to the Sunday prayer meeting. It was so interesting. Right after we prayed that the Lord would bring the youth of our city to Himself, we began to hear some loud talking out in front of our church building. A couple of the brothers went to check it out and were surprized, and somewhat frightened, to find nearly twenty unruly youth hanging out there. Some of them were mocking and ridiculing the faith, some of them were genuinely seeking the truth. The brothers ended up sharing the Lord with them for nearly an hour while we prayed for them inside. In the end, several walked away with gospel tracts in their pockets and the message of Christ's love in their minds. We prayed that God would bring the youth to Himself, and He decided to bring them to us first!

This morning I got a phone call from Pam. Last night Jeff and Christina's son, Caleb, and two of his friends were jumped and beaten on their way to a Bible study. Apart from a few bruises and a split lip, they are all OK. The guys who did this were strangers and quickly ran away when an elderly gentleman walking his cat came to the boy's rescue. Apparently, these thugs had been drinking and wanted to beat up on someone. Thankfully, it happened right before the Bible study so that the others in attendance were able to provide their care and support.

Today, Caleb, one of the other boys, the elderly gentleman, and myself went to the police station and filed a report. It took three hours for the police to handwrite each one's account of the crime separately. It nearly turned into a comedy when the police were interviewing Caleb and suddenly the elderly gentlemen burst in the office and exclaimed that he just saw the culprits walk by the police station! The female officer quickly radioed those on duty below, who in turn went out and apprehended the two guys. They brought them right up to us. The elderly gentleman was sure it was them, but Caleb and the other boy said it wasn't. Though they were dressed nearly identical as the two last night, they had the wrong voices and wrong heights. The police officer asked the elderly gentleman several times if he was sure it was them. Finally, in frustration at his own confusion and the officer's doubts he exclaimed, "Well, they look ALMOST like them!" She smiled and said kindly, "Almost isn't good enough, sir." After some further questioning by the police about their whereabouts last night, the two were peacefully released.

So, now it's in the Lord's hands as to whether or not the criminals will be caught. The boys desire in reporting the incident was to keep these hoodlums from doing it again to someone else. It's so refreshing to see that they have no bitterness, just concern for others. It was also a testimony of the Lord's grace that all three boys went ahead and participated in tonight's big youth evangelism concert. (all three are musicians in the band) God will have the victory!

Right on the heels of Christina's injury and Baba Klava's death, this new trial is stretching the faith of us all. But the Word of God commands, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4) Please pray that through it all we would keep rejoicing, trusting the Lord's hand, and growing in patience.

P.S. Good news! Pastor Jeff writes that Christina has had major improvement in the last week and a half as a result of the spinal therapy. If things continue at this pace, they may even return together on March 13th! Thank you for your continued prayers for them.

Tonight I had the priviledge to visit the American House. This is a typical american style home built here in Vladimir by americans nearly ten years ago. The main purpose of building the house was to help strengthen relations between Russia and the U.S., as well as to show russians how an american home is built. It's primary function now is as a showcase of american architecture and interior design as well as being a school where russians can learn english taught by american teachers.

I had been invited to be a guest speaker in one of the evening classes by an american teacher, Nina, who has been working at the home for nearly two years. She also happens to attend our church, which is how we met. Nina has a heart for the russians, teaching english, and most of all, for sharing her faith in Jesus Christ with her students. Her students tonight were having their final discussion on the book "The Pearl", by John Steinbeck, and she thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to come and tie in "The Pearl" with Jesus' parable from the gospel of Matthew on "the pearl of great worth".

Upon arrival, one of the other teachers gave me a tour of the house. The ground level is the "showcase" part of the home. All the rooms are decorated in the style of a typical american home. One minute you're out on the street in typical russian surroundings, and the next minute you're in a home from "Anywhere, U.S.A."!

Next we went to the basement level. Here the entire basement has been turned into a modern school complete with classrooms, chalkboards, bulletin boards, an office, computers, video library...the works! This is where I found Nina getting ready for her class which was to start in a few minutes. The other american teachers seems more surprized to see me than the russian students. That's probably because they don't ever see many other americans except for the ones who work at the house. I think they thought I was a new teacher fresh off the boat!

Nina's class had about 12 or so students. I was so impressed with how bold they were to answer Nina's questions during the lesson and how much they had comprehended reading "The Pearl" in english. I had brushed up on my copy earlier in the day, so I was also able to jump in a share my opinions. When Nina asked me to share the pearl parable from the Bible so that the students might compare the two stories, I was able to not only read them the story straight from the scriptures, but was also allowed to share how my thoughts on how this parable applies to our lives. I spoke of the contrast of how in Steinbeck's novel the pearl symbolizes that thing which every man hopes will set him free from his personal prison, but instead brings sorrow and death, whereas in Jesus' parable the pearl is likened to God's heavenly kingdom - that which is worth giving everything else up for to attain because it brings true lasting joy and life.

The last 30 minutes of class the students were open to ask me questions. They asked me what state I was from, how long I'd been in Russia, why I left my country, what's difficult for me here in Russia, what were my feelings about September 11th, and what I like about Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed answering them all and felt by the end a real comradary with the students. Nina was excited too, and wants to have me back again to share with another class. I can't wait. These are opportunities the Lord opens up to be able to share the wonderful news of the gospel with those who might otherwise not hear.

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